2018 College Football Team Previews: Indiana State Sycamores

2017 In A Sentence: The Sycamores went winless in 2017 in Coach Curt Mallory’s first season but had two non-conference games go to the wire against Eastern Illinois and Liberty.

Biggest Shoes to Fill: TE Jacquet McClendon was a second team All-MVFC performer last year. He went for over 100 receiving yards two times in 2017 with a season high 115 yards coming against Liberty on nine catches. He also went for 101 yards against Youngstown State in a game that included the third-longest reception in the MVFC at 73 yards. He ranked second on the team with 54.09 yards receiving per game and finished with 11.02 yards per catch.

Courtesy of Indiana State

Key Player: LB Jonas Griffith was a bright light on an otherwise hard season for the Sycamores last year. He was third in the MVFC and first on the team with 107 total tackles, including 48 solo tackles. He recorded a team-best 11 tackles for loss and also led the team with 5.5 sacks.

Fearless Prediction: The relatively young Sycamores (return 13 starters) are still likely to be in the MVFC basement, however, this team likely will not go winless again with its opener being against sub-DI Quincy of Indiana.